Nancy's Southern Christmas by Maud Van Buren

_Harriet Prescott Spofford_

They had always kept Christmas at home, even if in no very expensive / way. On the very last one, Johnny had had his skates, tied to his / stocking, and inside it, an orange and nuts and raisins, and some / little trick-joke, and a stick of candy; and Robby had had his sled, / and Marnie her book, and Bessie her tea-set; and Mr. Murtrie, the / father, had a pair of wristers that Nancy had crocheted, and a muffler / that his wife had knit; and the mother had a needle-book that Marnie / had made, and a bread-plate that Johnny had whittled out, and a piece / of jig-saw work from Robby, and a muff from the father. And Marnie had / written a poem to Father and Mother, which all the others criticized / violently and ruthlessly, but which was privately regarded as a great / achievement by every one of them.[16]